Windows 7 build 6469

6.1.6469.1.fbl_find_dev(wexbuild).071002-1531
	Build of Windows 7
OS family
Architecture	x86
Compiled	2007-10-02
Timebomb	2008-04-07 (+188 days)
Works in
About
SKUs
	Starter; Home Basic (N); Home Premium (N); Business (N); Enterprise (N); Ultimate (N)
Key
	Use a Windows Vista retail key

Windows 7 build 6469 is the earliest available build of Windows 7, which was uploaded to BetaArchive on 26 April 2011.^[1] This build is specific in that it was compiled as a private build, with binary files having the VS_FF_PRIVATEBUILD flag set in their version information and the builder user name being present in the build tag. In addition, most included apps and setup are signed by "WEX Build Lab Account" (the display name of the wexbuild account).

This is the last build to show the information regarding the system's RAM on the About Windows applet, which had been present since Windows 1.0. It is also the last build to have the Windows 2000-era banner in the aforementioned applet. It is also the last build to include the Windows Sidebar before being replaced with the Desktop Gadget Gallery in builds 6471 and 6519.

Due to its earliness, this build identifies itself as Windows Vista in most areas.

New features and changes[edit | edit source]

The kernel version has been changed to 6.1.
The texture used on the taskbar has been slightly updated.
The Classic Start menu, first seen in Windows 95, has been completely removed and can no longer be enabled. However, its registry value still exists and the classic menu option is still referenced in the Help and Support Center.
The gradient used in Explorer's command bar has been updated, now having a more blue appearance.
The "How to Share Feedback" reporting tool has been inherited from Windows Vista Beta 2/RC 1 builds.
The option to choose which volumes to defragment has been added back to the Disk Defragmenter after being removed for the RTM build of Windows Vista.
Windows PowerShell 1.0 is now included as a preinstalled application.
This is the earliest known build to include kernelbase.dll, which at this point has a file description of "Windows NT BASE API Mini Client DLL".

Control Panel[edit | edit source]

Classic View has been removed, and replaced by the All Control Panel Items view. This new view uses tiles for icons and features more padding in-between.
The final link in Category View now goes to All Control Panel Items rather than Additional Options like in Windows Vista.
The left pane for both the category and All Control Panel Items views is now collapsed, and it only contains an icon that when clicked from the latter returns the user to Category View.
The Welcome Center icon has been updated slightly.

Findings[edit | edit source]

Superbar[edit | edit source]

This build already includes an early version of the Superbar. To enable it, open Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer, create a key called TaskBand, create a DWORD value called CanHasSuperbar, and set its value to 1.

"No GUI" boot screen[edit | edit source]

There is a hidden boot screen unique to this build. To enable it, open System Configuration Utility -> Boot -> No GUI Boot box, and then restart the system. This will result in a bootscreen with the Windows flag and a large 7, as shown below. This boot screen was not seen on the RTM build.

Bugs and quirks[edit | edit source]

Installation[edit | edit source]

In VMware on some machines, you must change the hardware version to 8.x or earlier (and consequently change the CD drive to IDE) or the build will not boot due to a bugcheck with code 0x7E.